If it comes back clear, check out my other blog post on how to quickly treat shin splints. If you suspect you might have a fracture, don’t hesitate to have your doctor to take an x-ray. Once it has, you will be free to pound the pavement once more. This is a death sentence for many but your body needs time to let that bone heal. Now here comes the bad news – you will probably have to wear a walking boot for some period of time like 4-8 weeks and worst of all NO RUNNING. The only way to truly diagnose the stress fracture is to have your doctor take an x-ray. I have done this in the past without reproducing symptoms (the test was a false negative for fracture.) Some old school tricks for diagnosing the fracture are to place a tuning fork over the bone. In all likelihood, it is swelling at the site of the fracture. This may feel like a trigger point or spasm. Usually the pain comes on the inside of the shin bone (Tibia.) At the site of the most pain, there is usually a palpable lump. Here is what I have seen that points to a stress fracture instead of shin splints. When tuning forks are struck lightly, they begin to vibrate. Differentiating between the two can be tricky. How to use a tuning fork to determine if there is a broken bone or fracture. Stress fractures can masquerade as shin splints because symptoms usually presents in the same fashion – pain that occurs in the front of the lower leg that increases in intensity when the athlete runs. While neither is fun, I wanted to take a quick opportunity to talk about another injury that is commonly mistaken for shin splints and that is stress fractures. As Spring inches its way ever closer to Bentonville, Arkansas, our running community seems to be clamoring to be outdoors whenever the weather permits (which hasn’t been often lately.) With the huge influx of running that is coming in preparation for the Bentonville half marathon, I have already had several people come to my clinic for shin splints or Plantar Fasciitis.
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